We, The Infected

In the scene where Hakan tries to rape Eli, when the stick pierces his eye it says:
Then Hakan thrust himself forward and at the same time dropped his head down. With the soft sound of a wooden spoon pushed down into thick porridge, the sharp end of the stick went into his eye.

Later, just after Eli saves herself/himself from the sun and is about to enter the bathroom:
While the light clawed relatively tenderly at his back as he crawled down the corridor to the bathroom the smell of burnt flesh wafted into his nose.
I will never be whole again.

Hakan thrust himself forward

and

I will never be whole again.

Why is Eli never going to be whole again ? He/She has just been wounded by the sun, but later, after the bathroom scene with Lacke:
When he came out of the bathroom the wounds on his back had healed and he was slightly intoxicated from the alcohol in the blood.

Did Hakan succeed in raping Eli or did he fail trying ?

He failed. I have the german version of the book, but it is written that he tries to penetrate Eli. By doing so he is bending his/her legs so hard that the sinews in the legs begin to tear apart. This together with the amount of pain makes Eli think that he/she will never recover from this

If Håkan "succeeded" raping Eli is a question of definition.

Eli believed he would never be whole again because he was so profoundly damaged, and therefore too weak to feed, and he had no helper.

Then, by a twist of luck Lacke entered, and was subsequently knocked temporarily groggy by Oskar, which created an opportunity for Eli he couldn't have hoped for in his wildest fantasies.

metoo wrote:If Håkan "succeeded" raping Eli is a question of definition.

I could be more specific, but would it be against the forum rules ?

metoo wrote:Eli believed he would never be whole again because he was so profoundly damaged, and therefore too weak to feed, and he had no helper.

Then, by a twist of luck Lacke entered, and was subsequently knocked temporarily groggy by Oskar, which created an opportunity for Eli he couldn't have hoped for in his wildest fantasies.

The words "I will never be whole again." make me feel it's not about physical damage, but emotional, psychological. For example as the result of being raped.

I agree Eli might have tought he's too damaged and weak to feed, but this would imply he would be worried that he'll die, rather than not being whole again.

Like, if you think "I will never be whole again." , you think there will be an "again".

neo_cortex wrote:

metoo wrote:If Håkan "succeeded" raping Eli is a question of definition.

I could be more specific, but would it be against the forum rules ?

The rules are near the top of each topic area. Here's why I am mindful of how explicit I get--There are presently members as young as 13. Some members were younger than that when they joined (so I'm told).

I haven't found yet that trying to be mindful of how I say things keeps me from expressing my ideas and observations. I think I may have been guilty at times of being too explicit when I've used medical terms. I may even go back and edit one of my responses, now that you have me thinking about it.

Edit: And in fact that's what I just did. I changed some explicit medical descriptions into the simple words, "could be injured."

Let me re-phrase like this:
Did Hakan penetrate Eli ?

The book never really says that he does.

neo_cortex wrote:Let me re-phrase like this:
Did Hakan penetrate Eli ?

This is what I referred to, without being specific. People may differ about whether penetration is a requirement for an act to be called "rape". Personally, I'd say Eli was raped.

a_contemplative_life wrote:The book never really says that he does.

I agree, it doesn't. But I would also say that it suggests he didn't.

neo_cortex wrote: Like, if you think "I will never be whole again." , you think there will be an "again".

As I had a near-death experience, I had exactly this phrase in my mind. I was so severely demaged. What doesn't kill you, makes you just half dead.

Eli only just survived Zombie-Hakan.

This is what I referred to, without being specific. People may differ about whether penetration is a requirement for an act to be called "rape". Personally, I'd say Eli was raped.

True